The term anxiety usually refers to Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD) which is categorized by excessive worry and tension related to several unfounded things.
Types of anxiety disorders
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) – repetitive unwanted thoughts (obsessions) leading to repetitive behaviours (compulsions) that neutralize the original thought such as handwashing because of a fear of germs or contamination. The difficulty arises in that the ritual only temporarily relieves the original worry and the behaviour is then repeated unnecessarily. Common OCD tendencies can include checking behaviours, cleaning and counting.
Panic disorder – intense fear reactions with strong, often overwhelming physical sensations such as chest pain, palpitations, breathlessness and dizziness.
Social Anxiety – anxiety experienced to excessive levels in public or social situations. This can range from intense fear of public speaking to being unable to go into a shop or undertake simple life activities.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) – an anxiety disorder that develops after experiencing a significant traumatic event (see separate links).
Phobias – this is when anxiety, often intense, is experienced in response to a specific feared stimuli. Common phobias include heights, planes, spiders, enclosed spaces but can be of almost anything.
Stress and anxiety have several overlapping features. Put broadly however, Stress is the response to something external (the threat or stressor) such as work demands, life pressures, a difficult situation etc.
Anxiety on the other hand persists after the threat has passed and is driven from inside the person in the form of worrying thoughts. It can be consequential to unmanaged stress but also has other factors such as personality and genetics.
What is the impact?
Policing is very stressful and anxiety is therefore common. It can be difficult to switch off from work and not dissect everything; after all anxiety is a great risk detector which is what the job entails! The policing brain is also very threat focused so it can be somewhat normal for it to go into overdrive if left unchecked.
The stress response – also known as the Flight/Fight response is designed to keep you and those you are responsible for safe.
In policing the stress response can continually fire in response to the constant demands making the pattern look more like this. This can result in unmanaged stress and thus anxiety or burnout.
Therefore looking after yourself becomes imperative in managing healthy mental wellbeing
Signs and symptoms
You may have generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) if:
- Your worrying is uncontrollable and causes distress
- Your worrying affects your daily life, including your job and your social life
- You cannot let go of your worries
- You worry about all sorts of things, such as your job or health, and minor concerns, such as household chores
You should see your GP if anxiety is affecting your daily life or causing you distress. They can diagnose your condition based on your symptoms, which may include:
- Feeling restless or on edge
- Being irritable
- Getting tired easily
- Having difficulty concentrating or feeling your mind goes blank
- Having difficulty getting to sleep or staying asleep
- Having tense muscles
Self care
Regular breaks (where possible), good use of rest days and adopting healthy habits will aid this.
Relaxation, grounding and breathing skills are helpful in balancing out this stress response.
Treatment options
The recommended treatments (as per NICE) for all anxiety disorders are Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and applied relaxation skills. Whilst talking about your thoughts and worries in a counselling capacity may make you feel better, CBT gives you the insight and skills into dealing with them when they return outside of therapy and can have a longer lasting effect.
Anxiety is a combination of physical experiences and ‘head traffic’ so approaches that focus on both of these can be helpful. Mindfulness and EMDR can also be used as a second line approach. Sometimes medication is offered (usually in the form of anti-depressants) but combining these with therapy and healthy lifestyle choices will maximise your progress.
